MUMBAI:Thepassion,frenzy,camaraderie,rehearsals,victories,disappointments,andaboveallthespectaculartalentisbackasthebiggestbattleforthecovetedtitlewillsoonbegin.Hindigeneralentertainmentchannel(GEC)ZeeTVisback with its flagship dance realityshow - Dance India Dance (DID)season5, starting 27 June. Producedby Essel Vision Productions, theprogramme will air every Saturday-Sunday at 9 pm.Re-designing the format this season,DID will present itself in the form ofthe ‘Biggest Battleground of Dance’,where each participant will scale newhorizons of perfection, poise,presence and grace and challenge theothers to #BeatThat.To groom and hone the talent is anall-new trio of masters who bringwith them the renewed vigour ofyouth, an undying passion for danceand many years of training as dancersand choreographers.The panel includes DID season 4 judgeand choreographer Mudassar Khan,Gaiti Siddiqui, who has been a coachand creative guide for countless DIDstars over the years and DID season 2finalist Punit Pathak.The trio will each mentor a group ofcontestants and polish their skillsthrough rigorous training, workshopsand choreography that push theirlimits. While actor MithunChakravarty will guide and motivatecontestants as the Grandmaster, JayBhanushali returns as the host.Essel Vision Productions business headAkash Chawla believes that it was hightime for the channel to re-design andbreak the predictability of theformat. “There have been fourseasons of DID so far. Not just that,we had sub-franchises like DID SuperMoms, Lil Masters, not forgetting theother dance reality shows which cameup after DID. From an audience pointof view, we thought this was the righttime to break the predictability of theformat, thus surprising audienceswith something which they might noteven expect from the show,” he adds.Zee TV business head Pradeep Hejmadisays that he wanted to get theGenNext as masters for betterconnect with participants andaudience. “With the young masters,you can actually create that kind oflanguage and chemistry,” he reasons.The 15 week season will see weeklyeliminations basis the judge’sscorecards till it gets its top 10,after which the junta will decide whoamongst their favourite contestantswill be the winner.Chawla further explains that it isjust not an overnight job but takessix-eight months of hard work beforethe show goes on-floor. A nationwidehunt to scout for India’s mosttalented dancers began earlier thisyear across 17 cities includingMumbai, Delhi, Indore, Ranchi,Guwahati, Raipur, Siliguri,Chandigarh, Dehradun, Bhubaneshwar,Jaipur, Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata,Bengaluru, Nagpur and Vadodara.Contestants underwent layers ofscreening and finally the mostdeserving candidates were hand-picked.Moreover, apart from physicalauditions, talent was picked fromother mediums as well like digital,dancing schools, talent scoutingagencies etc. The channel has cannedthe auditions round and is on its wayof shortlisting its top 16 contestants.“When we go to small towns,participants come and tell us thatwhile they have the option to opt forthe numerous dance reality shows onother channels, they wait only forDID. At times it is very difficult todisqualify contestants. The talentthis time will speak for itself,” opinesChawla.According to Chawla, it is not justabout the hard work but also thosehard calls, right from changing theformat to getting new masters whichmakes or breaks a show. “These arenot simple calls because you havealready tasted success. People alreadyknow Geeta, Remo and Terence asmasters of DID, so the first shot withnew masters while is scary, it is alsoexciting. For people working behindthe camera, the success of the seasonwill be determined by how the newmasters are accepted,” he adds.The show has envisioned three coreelements i.e level of dancing, level oftraining and the new format. Chawlaopines that the format of the non-fiction indigenous talent hunt showswhich the Indian market produces isnot handled in the best manner.“If you look at the Internationalformats or those formats which areacquired for Indian audiences, thecore of the show is to keep alive theentertainment and surprise quotient.And therefore with this one, we notonly have tried to change the formatbut have put a lot of rigor and hardwork with the available internationallearnings that we have had across theyears to build a format which webelieve will get on to theinternational platform.”This season, the channel plans to givetalents an opportunity to perform atthe global platform post the show.Chawla points out that one of the keyselection criteria this season was tosee if contestants have the courageto compete with internationalperformers. “Even if the talent is rawand ready to learn, we believe ingiving them a chance. The masters arethere to polish the talent incontestants,” he says.DID has always been a property thathas not just fetched good numbers forthe Zeel flagship channel, but alsoattracted good ad revenue. Accordingto sources, the property is expectedto earn Rs 90-95 crore this season.http://www.indiantelevision.com/televisi...n-5-150624